Cemetary headstone band with detachable floral foam

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to an apparatus for attaching a floral arrangement to a headstone, having a band having a first end, a second end, and a central portion, the first end and the second end each having a surface with a hook-and-loop fastening material disposed thereon. The apparatus has a strip having a first side and a second side. The second side is affixed to the central portion of the band. The apparatus further has a panel having a front side and a back side. At least a portion of the back side having a hook-and-loop fastening material disposed thereon, and the front side being configured to mount a floral arrangement thereon.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/103,351, titled “Cemetery Headstone Band with Detachable Floral Foam”, filed on Jul. 30, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to an apparatus for securing flowers to a cemetery headstone. People often visit grave sites to honor friends and family by leaving flowers in front of the headstone. However, the flowers are often discarded prematurely by cemetery caretakers because they need to mow around the headstone.

The premature discarding of the flowers can be distressing to the friends or family who left them to honor their loved ones. Further, the money spent to buy the flowers is partially wasted since the flowers could have remained at the grave site longer. What is needed is an apparatus to removably attach flowers or floral arrangements to the cemetery headstone in order allow the flowers to remain at the grave site longer to honor loved ones while facilitating cemetery maintenance.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention is directed to an apparatus for attaching a floral arrangement to a headstone, having a band having a first end, a second end, and a central portion, the first end and the second end each having a surface with a hook-and-loop fastening material disposed thereon. The apparatus has a strip having a first side and a second side. At least of portion of the first side having a hook-and-loop fastening material disposed thereon. The second side is affixed to the central portion of the band. The apparatus further has a panel having a front side and a back side. At least a portion of the back side has a hook-and-loop fastening material disposed thereon. The front side is configured to mount a floral arrangement thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a cemetery headstone band and panel attached to a headstone in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a back perspective view of the panel shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the panel of FIG. 1 having a floral arrangement secured thereto;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the cemetery headstone band and headstone of FIG. 1, with the panel and floral arrangement of FIG. 3 attached thereto;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the cemetery headstone band and headstone of FIG. 1, without the panel;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the cemetery headstone band and headstone of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of the cemetery headstone band of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of the cemetery headstone band of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. Unless specifically set forth herein, the terms “a”, “an” and “the” are not limited to one element but instead should be read as meaning “at least one”. The words “right,” “left,” “lower,” and “upper” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” or “distally” and “outwardly” or “proximally” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center or orientation of the device and instruments and related parts thereof. The terminology includes the above-listed words, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

It should also be understood that the terms “about,” “approximately,” “generally,” “substantially” and like terms, used herein when referring to a dimension or characteristic of a component of the invention, indicate that the described dimension/characteristic is not a strict boundary or parameter and does not exclude minor variations therefrom that are functionally the same or similar, as would be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art. At a minimum, such references that include a numerical parameter would include variations that, using mathematical and industrial principles accepted in the art (e.g., rounding, measurement or other systematic errors, manufacturing tolerances, etc.), would not vary the least significant digit.

The cemetery headstone band with detachable floral foam is an apparatus that provides for a silk or fresh flower arrangement to be affixed to the base of a headstone at a height above ground level, therefore allowing maintenance of cemetery grave sites without having to move or discard flowers. The cemetery headstone band with detachable floral foam consists of a stretchable band that goes around the headstone and attaches securely at the back of it with an overlapping hook-and-loop (for example, VELCRO® by Velcro Brand) closure. The stretchable band also has a hook-and-loop (for example, VELCRO®) strip on the front to which a floral foam panel covered with a silk or fresh flower arrangement can be attached. The hook-and-loop (Velcro®) strip on the front of the band allows for interchangeable floral arrangements. Each floral arrangement made to be used with the cemetery headstone band with detachable floral foam would be secured on a floral foam panel with a strip of hook-and-loop (for example, VELCRO®) on the back allowing the panel to be attached and unattached easily to the front of the band.

Referring to FIGS. 1-8, one embodiment of the present invention is directed to an apparatus 10 for attaching a floral arrangement 20 to a headstone 30. The apparatus 10 preferably includes a band 50 having a first end 52, a second end 54, and a central portion 56. The first end 52 and the second end 54 each preferably have adhesive regions 53, 55 respectively disposed on at least a portion of the first end 52, second end 54. Preferably, the adhesive regions 53, 55 are covered with corresponding hook-and-loop fastening materials (Velcro ®), but are not so limited, and may alternately be constructed of any mechanism or material for securing the first end 52 to the second end 54, such as a buckle, an adhesive material such as glue, snaps, buttons, pins, clips, or the like. The band 50 is preferably constructed of an elastic material so as to be secured to a headstone 30 or other object of varying sizes, but is not so limited.

The apparatus 10 also preferably contains a strip 60 having a first side 62 and a second side 64. At least a portion of the first side 62 preferably contains an adhesive region 63 that is preferably a hook-and-loop fastening material (for example, VELCRO®), but again is not so limited. The adhesive region 63 may also be constructed of any mechanism or material for connecting two components together, such as a buckle, an adhesive material such as glue, snaps, buttons, pins, clips, or the like. The second side 64 is preferably affixed to the central portion 56 of the band 50. Preferably, the second side 64 is affixed to the central portion 56 by stitching the strip 60 to the band 50, but may alternately be affixed by any other suitable means, such as adhesives, pins, buttons, clips, snaps, buckles, or the like.

The apparatus 10 also preferably contains a panel 70 having a front side 72 and a back side 74. Preferably, at least a portion of the back side 74 contains an adhesive region 75 that is preferably a hook-and-loop fastening material (for example, VELCRO®) corresponding to the hook-and-loop material of the adhesive region 63 of the strip 60, but again is not so limited. The back side 74 is preferably configured to removably attach to the adhesive region 63 of the strip 60 and therefore may take on any form or material suitable for such attachment, such as glue, snaps, buttons, pins, clips, or the like. Preferably, the floral arrangement consists of several discrete flowers 22, each of which is pressed into the front side 72 of the panel 70. However, the front side 72 is preferably configured to hold and display the floral arrangement 20 by any suitable fastening mechanism, such as a hook-and-loop fastening material (for example, VELCRO®), glue, pins, slots, loops, or the like. The floral arrangement 20 may be composed of natural flowers, artificial flowers made of silk or any other suitable material, or any combination thereof. The floral arrangement 20 may also include other decorative materials, such as greenery or photographs. The panel 70 is preferably constructed of a polymeric material, and more preferably of polystyrene, but is not so limited.

In use, one can wrap the band 50 around a headstone 30 at a level several inches or more off the ground so that groundskeepers in the cemetery can maintain the grounds without interference from the apparatus 10. The band 50 can be connected to the headstone 30 by securing the adhesive region 53 of the first end 52 to the adhesive region 55 of the second end 54 such that the central portion 56 is displayed at a prominent place on the headstone 30, such as on the front and center of the headstone 30. The user can then attach a floral arrangement 20 to the panel 70 or purchase a pre-assembled panel 70 having a floral arrangement 20 already mounted thereon. The user can then attach the panel 70 to the strip 60 so that the floral arrangement 20 can be displayed on the headstone 30 without interfering with the duties of a groundskeeper, thereby allowing the floral arrangement 20 to remain displayed for a longer period of time. The user can then remove the panel 70 at any desired time to replace the floral arrangement 20 if the natural flowers wilt or if the user simply wishes to update the display.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that boundaries between the above-described operations are merely illustrative. The multiple operations may be combined into a single operation, a single operation may be distributed in additional operations and operations may be executed at least partially overlapping in time. Further, alternative embodiments may include multiple instances of a particular operation, and the order of operations may be altered in various other embodiments.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiment described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the present disclosure. 

I/We claim:
 1. An apparatus for attaching a floral arrangement to a headstone, the apparatus comprising: a band having a first end, a second end, and a central portion, the first end and the second end each having a surface with a hook-and-loop fastening material disposed thereon; a strip having a first side and a second side, the second side being affixed to the central portion of the band; and a panel having a front side and a back side, at least a portion of the back side having a hook-and-loop fastening material disposed thereon and the front side being configured to mount a floral arrangement thereon.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a floral arrangement secured to the front side of the panel.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the floral arrangement comprises artificial flowers.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the artificial flowers are comprised of silk.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the floral arrangement comprises natural flowers.
 6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the floral arrangement is secured to the front side of the panel by inserting an end of the floral arrangement into the panel.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the panel comprises a polymeric material.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the polymeric material is polystyrene.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to be secured to a headstone by wrapping the band around the headstone and securing the hook-and-loop material of the first end to the hook-and-loop material of the second end.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the band comprises an elastic material. 